During the construction of steel frame buildings, large steel beams are lifted to great heights, positioned so that the brackets on their ends line up with the brackets on previously erected beams, and then connected with either bolts or welds. The beams are lifted by crane, and when in the of their final position, the beams are guided by attached ropes that are held by workers on the ground. When within an arm's length of their final position, steelworkers located on nearby beams guide the beams by hand so that their brackets align correctly and begin to join the beams. This work is very dangerous and requires excellent coordination between crane operators, workers on the ground, and workers precariously positioned on the nearby steel beams.
It would be advantageous to have a system that would allow for rotation of the beam to be controlled while it is suspended from the crane. The system should also be able to move the beam short distances in any direction on the horizontal plane. In one embodiment of the invention, the device should interface with the crane control system to direct the operation of the crane as well. This system would reduce the need for workers on the ground to guide the beam with ropes and would be an integral component of a forthcoming automated beam joining system.